Sand Sculpture Festival Breaks World Record

BLANKENBERGE, Belgium, June 17, 2010 - This year, the Sand sculpture festival in Blankenberge is featuring its
longest sculpture promenade ever. After achieving the European height record
in Zeebrugge in 1998, the festival is now vying for the world record. The
length of 841,80 metres was taken and it is enough to become the longest sand
sculpture festival in the world, good for a more than a two-hour walk. The
organisation is currently waiting for official publication in the Guinness
Book of Records.

"This edition promises to be one of the best of the past few years,"
Alexander Deman, festival organiser explains. "It is a real trip around the
world. Never before have so many artists come to Blankenberge. With this
world record, we are the biggest sand museum in the world."

This summer, the Sand sculpture festival offers a relaxing trip to the
most popular travel destinations and impressive points of interest in the
world. A total of 171 scenes have been sculpted: 73 European, 43 Asian, 19
African, 17 North American, 10 South American and 9 Oceanian. Some 40
countries on six continents are on the programme. One can walk along the most
important world wonders, the most visited cultural monuments, and meet some
of the greatest heroes of our history.

Since a new list of world wonders was chosen in 2006, a group of
professionals selected 77 monuments. During the two preparatory months, this
list, along with the one of the UN organisation UNESCO, was the inspiration
for 40 international artists mainly from Europe, the United States and
Russia.

Just like in the past, the organisation has not left anything to chance
and has set up many artworks in tents. The first tent features 90 sculptures
from 24 countries, while the second tent has 70 sculptures for 16 European
countries. "The weather is not affecting the festival. We limited ourselves
to 10 wonders of the world outdoors, such as the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal and
the Eiffel Tower," Deman explains.

The free programme booklet serves as a travel guide along the biggest
treasures of humanity on six continents. In short, it is spectacular,
educational, but especially a not to be missed world journey for every
family.

As of 28 May, the new theme 'Around the World' can be discovered every
day until 31 August.

www.zandsculptuur.be

Fotolink: backup.cb-it.be/~xanto/FOTOS2010LR/album/

Contact details: Alexander Deman, +32-502-00465 or info at zandsculptuur.be